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house republicans first shared their pledge to america on th z thursday. it is a new way forward that hasn't been tried in washington. but this morning the president says, the pledge is full of old ideas. >> many were the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place, which isn't surprising since many of the leaders were among the architects of that failed policy. >> good saturday morning to you, mike. >> good morning, alex. >> i'm sure there will be debate on this from both sides. >> five weeks away from election and the battle lines have been drawn and they've never been clearer than they were this morning. president obama you heard him time and time again say we have had to make unpopular decisions since i came into office. the stimulus, the bailout for the banks all down the line, but they're going to bear fruit. the president with us this morning saying the recession is technically over. i know a lot of people are still feeling pain, but the economy is

growing and it's going to get better. republicans for their part say the obama administration's policies have failed and they point to the stimulus, they point to the health care plan. part of that pledge to america that they unveiled over here in suburban virginia last week was to replace and repeal health care. that's where this ground is going to be fought heading into november 2nd, election day. first we heard from the president. here's what he had to say. >> it's grounded in the same worn-out philosophy. cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires. cut the rules for wall street and the special interests and cut the middle class loose to fend for itself. that's not a prescription for a better future. it's an echo of a disastrous decade we can't afford to relive. >> so now the question is are enough americans listening to the president's message? and if you look at what experts are predicting for the result of those elections, they say that republicans could sweep to power at least in the house of representatives if not the

senate. kevin mccarthy, one of those so-called young guns of the conference had this response to the president. >> as a result of the economically disastrous policies of the current administration, millions of americans are out of work today. and our children will be saddled with a deficit and debt that is by every definition out of control. this pledge is a governing agenda. it could be implemented right now if the powers that be in washington would allow it. >> we have to mention, alex, that the republican agenda that was laid out last thursday has had a lot of critics obviously from the left. there was a blog here from the white house communications director in the west wing saying if those spending levels were cut back to 2008 levels, as the republicans proposed in their agenda last thursday, then we'd be laying off correctional officers, fbi agents, hundreds of kid, thousands of children would be without the head start program. so this is where we're going to fight this battle ledding into november. it promises to be a desperate

political struggle from here on out, alex. >> mike vig quer ra at the white house. thanks so much. you can all log on to firstread.msnbc.com. we're keeping track of the latest developments from miami where the fbi and local police are scouring that city for three robbers that turned an overnight kidnapping into a 25-minute bank heist. let's check out the scene in miami. here it is. the suspects kidnapped the teller just after midnight. they strapped him to a device making bombmaking materials. they did this from his home. then they made quick work that morning at the bank of america branch. police say the suspects fled the scene in a red foerd mustang and they're on the loose. developing now in los angeles. lindsay lohan is out of jail this morning. only 12 hours after serving behind bars for failing a drug test. the 24-year-old actress was released overnight and driven in a black suv right to her home.

and that is where we find nbc's kristen welker who is outside lohan's home. good saturday morning to you. what time did lindsey get back home after that long day? >> the wee hours of the morning, alex. good morning to you. she arrived back here at her west hollywood condo at about 12:30 this morning. she is out on bail all thanks to her attorney. a superior court judge and a whole lot of money. lindsay lohan released from jail just hours after a judge had ordered her back inside without bail. the troubled actress first reported to court friday morning dressed to the nines for yet another probation violation. this time she tested positive for drugs just weekses after she was released from rehab. before the hearing started, lohan was all smiles. but all that changed when ten minutes after the hearing started, judge eldon fox ordered her to be handcuffed and taken into custody for nearly a month

without bail. lohan showed little emotion, but dad michael didn't hold anything back. >> jail is not good for anyone. i've been there. it doesn't rehabilitate. >> reporter: but no sooner had lohan arrived at jail when her lawyer started working on getting her out. a few hours later a superior court judge complied overturning judge fox's decision. the second judge ruled the defendants charged with misdemeanors are entitled as a matter of right to bail which was set at $300,000. there are also stipulations. lohan has to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet like this one she showed off in a photo shoot. and has to refrain from any controlled substances. legal experts say judge fox was trying to prove a point. >> as far as what he was giving a message to lindsay lohan, it was you better stop doing this because otherwise you're going to keep going back and forth to jail and i'm going to be here waiting for you every time you screw up. >> this was lohan's third and shortest stint in jail. this summer she served 14 days

of a 90-day sentence and 23 day in rehab all stemming from a prior dui violation. medical experts say she has a lot of work to do to rehabilitates herself. >> i think it should be a solid decision made by her treatment team to be able to know how this relapse happened. >> but hollywood insiders say amazingly her star might not be tarnished by any of this. >> after being in jail again, lindsay will probably still have a career. hollywood is very forgiving. >> lindsay lohan's legal troubles are far from finished. she'll go back to court on october 22nd for her actual probation violation hearing. at that point the judge could send her back to jail or back to rehab. alex? >> okay. kristen welker. a long early morning for you. thanks very much for the live shots throughout this morning. >> sure. pastor eddie long says he'll have information for his the

lawsuit was filed by spencer lagrand. saying that bishop long pressured him into a sexual relationship during a trip the africa in 2005. he's a prominent figure hosting both president bush and president clinton at his parish. he's denied all the allegations thus far saying he was very anxious to respond to those false attacks. destructive floodwaters are slowly receding in minnesota after storms dumped ten inches of rain this week. residents are faying a treeld cleanup mess. in pine island, which was hit particularly hard, the city estimates 150 homes have severe flood damage. for the full weekend forecast, let's go to bill karins. good morning. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. this is the first weekend of fall and it will feel like it in a few locations. but overall the weather pattern has switched a bit. the east coast was extremely warm yesterday, now it will cool off this weekend while the west coast, summer will continue for

you. the warmth will spread all the way up to the pacific northwest. but you can see the big change will be in the eastern seaboard this weekend. saturday warm, sunday much cooler with some rain. let me show you what happened yesterday. an incredible day in washington, d.c. easily broke the record high. can you believe we were 99 degrees yesterday in washington, d.c.? look at phoenix. the only big city to beat washington, d.c. that 90-degree heat spread all the way up to philadelphia yesterday. things will be cooler today. but still very warm. very much like summer. all the way up into boston where it will be 86. we'll have near record highs today in areas like charlotte, raleigh, jfk airport in new york city. enjoy the warmth while it lasts. take a look at buffalo there at 60 degrees. rest of the forecast today, watch out for showers and storms. we've had a lot of rain in dallas this morning and kansas city with some rain. for the warmest days of the year in l.a. 97, the forecast high.

90 in san francisco. and as we go into sunday, could be near 100 degrees in los angeles. san francisco at 87. so the heat builds out west. while the east and southeast cools off dramatically on sunday. and could be heavy rain in the southeast. we've had drought conditions there recently. the rain is welcome. but we don't want it to ruin flynn's first fall weekend. >> bill karins, thanks so much. another week of gains in books for the stock market. it's the fourth one the a row, so we'll take it. but will it continue into a holiday season that many analysts believe won't get a big financial push from consumers. vera gibbons joins us now. we're loving some gains here. >> not bad. it's about less pessimism i think about the future direction of the economy. that's what it largely boils down to. it wasn't economic data moving the market one way or the other. durable goods better than expected. business spending is up a little bit. the thinking is that this recovery might be on firmer ground than initially thought, which is why we are up.

and we're up over 8% for the month, september on track to be the best month. >> usually not good. >> on track to be the best month we've seen in what, 71 years? >> good. what about gold? 1300 bucks an ounce. >> it could go even higher. 1600 toward the end of the year. the landscape is there because investors just don't have confidence in the dollar right now. all this talk about quantitative easing. so you have these nervous investors using gold as a safe haven pushing that price up. silver is up, too. other pressures metals. then consumers are taking action selling, whatever they have sitting around in their closets. everyone is cash strapped looking to make a quick buck. >> a couple of lumps of coal. we had these two surveys that said the holiday season moois might be a bust. >> one survey out by deloitte saying expect a 2% bump. a gloomier outlook from america's research group showing

that 43% of consumers plan to spend less this year than they did last. but nevertheless, retailers actually started to hire for the hol will day season. they're really gearing up. the toy wars going on. they get more competitive every year. sears is opening up toy departments. you have toys "r" us opening up in six pop-up stores. kmart. it had be a very competitive season for sure. >> first things first, because when you go out now, halloween is everywhere. >> good news here for the halloween stuff. there are the trick-or-treaters. we'll be spending more on candy and decorations. we're looking at about $5.8 billion in total spending overall. >> which is up. >> that's up. that's on par with 2008 levels. that's pretty good. one day of the year that we can be something other than our miserable selves. >> escapism. >> get out and celebrate. >> i'll be out somewhere.

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u.s. senate candidate christine o done sl no longer doing national tv interviews but that's not keeping her off the airwaves. bill maher has rulolled out another decade-old clip of the candidate. pat buchanan and karen finney. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> so pat, we'll begin with you this time. and kentucky senate candidate

rand paul also had a rocky start to the campaign after make something controversial comment. do you think tea party candidates are finding themselves far outside the mainstream and that's why they're getting that kind of attention? >> not at all. i mean, one of the toughest cases we've gotten is in nevada. sharon angle's running even, rand paul's ahead, rubio's ahead, toomey is ahead. mike lee in utah, they're all ahead. this is the toughest race we've got right here and for a number of reasons. delaware is a liberal state. had a very bloody primary. mike castle lost. he's very popular. the castle republicans are abandoning christine o'donnell or have not come back. she's controversial. no doubt bill maher has put out this stuff and it has been an attack on her. can her energy and enthusiasm and the money that is pouring in behind her and the general wave,

can that overcome what are really big odds? >> i'm going to ask you this then, karen, because the tea party candidates clearly very successful in several primary races. who is to say they won't be successful in november. >> that was excellent spin from pat. but here's why they may not be so successful in november. one of the thins you're seeing and it follows the trend that we saw with christine o'donnell, no more national news interviews. sort of like they go into witness protection program. high profile republican strategist is sent out from the national republican senatorial campaign committee. we saw it with rand paul, with sharon angle, we saw it with buck, we're seeing it with christine o'donnell. their job is to get out there and sit on them and don't let them get in in any trouble because they know the controversial positions and the extremist positions of these tea party candidates have taken in the primaries are not necessarily going to appeal to that general election electorate of moderates and independents. that's why you're seeing things

kind of shake out the way they are in the polls. but at the end of the day, what's interesting and where i hope democratic candidates will push back is the very thing that these tea party candidates will campaign for in their primaries which is it's more important to stand up for their principles than whether or not they win. they're sacrificing that in the general election in order to win. >> given that karen is organizing everything, what do you thing this says about the republican party and what's happening right now? which is five weeks plus to go until the election. >> look, if these are all extremist candidates, you got to ask why every single one of them is winning but christine o'donnell. secondly, what this shows you is that you've got energy and fire. people have said the republican party, it has to be a bigger chapter. it is a bigger chapter. republican party was dead from november through jan other of 2009. it is alive and full of fire because these other people are coming into it. sure, they have tough ideas and they want to battle.

these are the signs of birth. these are birth parents. i was part of the goldwater campaign 1963/'64, the same way. we lost horribly then. we're not going to lose this year. but out of that came the reagan movement when it matured. that's what's happening. >> certainly democrats may benefit from drawing attention to the extreme elements of the republican party. but it can be a double-edged sword because democrats could actually drum up more anger from voters. i thought talking down to the american public, they do that. >> that's an important part, alex. because all candidates need to recognize that one of the most important messages throughout the primary season, you've got to show up and do the work. voters don't want to hear from candidates who either presume that they're going to win that it will be the cakewalk, that they don't have to do the work. it's important that they not be seen to be talking down to some of the things the tea party candidates or others will be

talking about. at the same time, they've got to obviously stand up for themselves as democrats and what they believe in. but i do think again as people see the contrast, that is part of what is motivating democrats. and i think you're sighing, actually, more activity on the democratic side. you know, the other thing is this pledge that republicans came out with, there are not a lot of -- republican candidates haven't exactly jumped on to that. there's an opening there for democrats. >> all right, guys. i'm being told we've got to go. that will be a wrap. karen finney and pat buchanan. with so many people facing financial troubles these days, finding a silver lining might be kind of tough. we'll talk with deepak chopra about how to make yourself happy. ... i was like, yes, this works... [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys. puhh puhh puhh putt and that's it. [ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining.

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our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. you know the old adage that money doesn't bring happiness. with the economy still sputtering and the treasury secretary yesterday saying, quote, we're still digging out

of a very big hole, now may be the best time to embrace some of those other paths to happiness. here with notice now we're excited to have dr. deepak chopra. best selling author known to all of you. his latest book is "muhammad," the story of the last prophet. >> you do need money. >> you do. >> if you're extremely poor, you're going to be unhappy. and if you're extremely rich, you're also going to be unhappy. because the extremely poor and extremely rich can think of nothing else other than money. >> very good points. you're right. it does not buy happiness. just because you have it all, doesn't mean you've got everything you need. but let's talk about more people who don't have a lot of money right now, there's a lot of unhappiness around this country right now. what are some basic things that people can do to not focus on their economic plight and become a little happier? >> the easiest way to be happy is to make someone else happy.

then you can do that by giving them attention, affection and appreciation. attention means listening to them, appreciation means noticing the good things in them and the affection means loving touch. you can listp to your body. your body is a biocomputer that sends you messages in the form of sensations. if you listen to them, you can decode these messages and you know what to do to solve any problem whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. >> i want to talk about this new book. it is a very timely book considering the discussion around the world really about the prophet muhammad. we'll get to this details about the american perspective or down to ground zero. this book is about the founder of islam. what did you discover while writing it that maybe you did not know before? >> unlike other messengers, jesus said, i'm the son of god.

he was illiterate. he did not expect the angel gabriel to speak to him. he was dumbfounded when he heard the angel say, recite in the name of the lord o made or created human life from drops of congealed blood. recite, i will reveal to you what was not revealed before. he started to recite these verses which have true revelation in them. >> where is the controversy within the life of muhammad and particularly his teachings with regard to there are those who look to muhammad and say that he tells them to wage jihad. >> well, he is in many ways a contradiction and paradox. on one hand he has the revelation and on the other hand has to deal with violence. and at times his armies, his people were persecuted, result in violence as well. unlike other people, he's the

most like us because he kind of embodies the sacred and then he resorts sometimes to the profane. >> was there anything about his origins, deepak, that would have given you a clue as to how important a man this would become, that he would become in the culture, in the history, in the evolution of the world and its philosophy? >> it's true. there are 1.5 billion muslims and our conversation is all about islam right now. and had it not been for this person who had revelation and influenced people who were dispossessed, disempowered, disenchanted, they were the poor and the dispossessioned. he accepted everyone including slaves at this time. and in many ways, it was a revolutionary in his time. >> how do you read the situation down by ground zero? of course, the building of this new islamic culture center.

>> i think the situation at ground zero is based on fear. when we don't know people, we demonize them. and then we react in this manner. the islamic center i think has a creative solution. we just need to call it the islamic center for piece, unity, interfaith dialogue dedicated to the memory of the victims of 9/11 including the muslims who died there. the people of the center are reformists. they come from a place of love. they're engaged in interfaith dialogue for over ten years and more. so let's not lump them with all the others who are extremists. >> so americans who may be outraged at the building of this center, are you basically saying, read more, understand more? >> become more familiar. 65% of americans say they know nothing about islam or the prophet, yet they're afraid of muslims.

when you don't know people, you are afraid of them. when you know them, you realize they're just like you. >> okay. so before i let you go, though, give me one final thing that you -- if you -- a parting thought with people who are suffering out there, have challenges in their live, the first thing they can do to turn thing around. >> stay in the present. the most important time in your life is now. the most important person you're with is the person you're with now. the most important activity you can engage in is what you engage in now. >> sounds like you want us to make the most of every day. >> let go of grievances. nbc is kicking off a nationally broadcast in depth conversation about improving education in america. during the summit on rockefeller plaza, parent, students and teachers will all come together with leaders in politics and business to discuss the challenges and opportunities in education today. it officially starts tomorrow with teacher town hall.

that's hosted by brian williams live here on msnbc from noon to 2:00 p.m. eastern. i'll be down on the plaza to do a sneak peek the last half hour of our live broadcast. you can check out educationnation.com and there you can find out where your school ranks nationally and within your state. you can also take a quiz with your child about learning. that's all there for you. in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪ with pringles cracker stix. ♪ crackers turned into tasty, crunchy sticks!

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it's msnbc saturday. i'm alex witt. here are your fast five headlines. lindsay lohan is out of jail once again but she'll have to wear an ankle bracelet. she posted $300,000 bail. authorities in sweden are questioning a man suspected of carrying explosives on a flight from canada to pakistan. but the search has turned up nothing so far. the plane was diverted to stoke home where he's being detained. a fourth lawsuit has been filed against a popular atlanta area pastor accused of having

sex with young male churchgoers. an attorney denies the allegations. a federal judge has ordered the air force to reinstate a nurse discharged under the don't ask, don't tell policy. it calls margaret witt an exemplary officer. the nation's drug enforcement agency is asking people to drop off their expired and unused prescriptions at more than 4,000 locations today. those are your fast five headlines. a new report in "the washington post" said the risk of small scale attacks by al qaeda and its allies is on the rise. the reports cite senior obama administration officials who say the terrorist network is likely to attempt less sophisticated attacks in the united states. and it is extremely difficult to detect these kinds of threats in the advance. joining me is evan coleman. good morning to you. how worried are you about this? >> it's concerning. 9/11 we had 19 individuals.

a very elaborate plan, airplanes, international travel. what al qaeda and other terror groups have realized is that trying to re-create a scenario like that is exceptionally difficult. very low rate of success. and you expend a tremendous amount of resources trying to get a plot like that. the model of hasan, the model of one man motivated to do this by his own motivations or one woman. and able to carry out an act that will create chaos, that will create headlines that will push al qaeda back into the mainstream of our consciousness and yet it doesn't take, you know, millions of dollars, it doesn't take 19 guys, an elaborate conspiracy. >> some of this stuff is very rudimentary. it's very amateur. >> al qaeda knows this. if you look at their most recent english language magazine from the same group that dispatched,

they come from people who want to be homegrown extremists. it doesn't lomatter if you don' succeed. put forth the best of your efforts and you'll become a hero, regardless of whether or not the bomb goes off. if you try to commit an act of violence, you will become a hero in our minds. you will become a martyr. there is some sense not that you have to carry out a successful terrorist attack, make the effort. scare the american public. terrify people that want to get on airplanes. that's the idea. to spread fear. and you don't need 19 people to do that. you can just get one or two people spread across large areas or distances. >> you describe it that way, and you realize what a challenge this is to keep america safe. one whack job with a bomb in his backpack. how many people are walking around new york city? >> it's the proverbial needle in a haystack. al qaeda the pakistani taliban, they all know thisp and they're pointing to examples like faisal

shah hab and they're saying this is model we should follow but this is the model to follow in the future because this is the greatest chance of success. the greatest chance that we'll have an impact on our enemies. >> the best way to combat it, see something, say something. >> it's not a perfect philosophy, but unfortunately that is in the end what works best. whether you're the parent of an individual who goes off to a foreign country suddenly disappears, perhaps with al qaeda. if you notice something strange at an airport or bus station, a subway, say something. because that's really how authorities learn about this. not through wiretaps, not through spy satellites. through aware citizens. >> and helping law enforcement to do their job. thank you. the texas school board has approved a controversial resolution which claims textbook publishers favor islam over christianity. it states that a pro islamic bias has tainted past text

books. the board voted that publishers who devote for time to christianity and textbooks that favor one religion over another be rejected. a convenience store clerk in hartford, connecticut, pulled a fast one to outwit a stickupman. the cashier distracted that gunman by yelling to a co-worker, giving him the opportunity to pull out his own gun. the stickup man gave up in the standoff because his gun was nothing but a bb gun. the co-worker held a guy against a freezer while he called the cops. a mother is facing child abuse charges after encouraging a vicious fight. >> reporter: as far as after-school fights go, this one was a doozy. in a vacant field in palmetto, florida, two teenage girls taking each other on.

cheered on by dozens of classmates. and by one other who police say should have known better. the mother of one of the fight girls. 39-year-old april. a manatee county deputy reports that he actually encouraged her daughter to physically fight. investigators have three videos of the event. this one was posted on youtube. in one video, the deputy writes, it shows prip walking towards her daughter as she jumped around preparing herself for the fight. the deputy concludes that april never stopped the fight. rather, she encouraged it. in the report, the deputy says the mother told him she showed up to the fight to make sure nothing got out of hand and to make sure her daughter did not get hurt. investigators say newcome says she was there because her daughter sustained a skull fracture from a previous incident. and april knew she was going to fight and wanted to make sure

her daughter's nemesis did not hit her in the back of the head. as the five-minute-long fight ensued, april newcomb never called 911 and never tried to stop the brawl. that was a mistake. deputies say by not taking an active role and instead letting two 16-year-olds go at each other, april newcomb committed a crime. she's now charged with child en in this fight and doing absolutely nothing to stop it. >> reporter: psychologist jeff gardere. >> if a parent is saying, go ahead and fight, you can go ahead and do this thing, in some ways the kids don't want to let their parents down. >> reporter: under questioning, police say april newcomb admitted of course we're both wrong. i understand that. i understand where you all are coming from. investigators say the teens could still face disciplinary actions.

for today, kelly sanders, nbc news, ft. lauderdale. it's a $100 million challenge that facebook founders pledge to newark city schools. why millions may be riding on this promise. with active naturals wheat smooths damaged cuticles for 75% more shine in one use. real shine, for real life. yours. [ female announcer ] new aveeno nourish plus shine.

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there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg is hoping to make a status update for struggling schools in newark, new jersey. you probably heard that the billionaire is donating a whopping 1$100 million in facebook stock as part of his new start-up education foundation. rehema ellis reports on the pledge and the promise of hope. >> come on out here, guys. come on out. >> reporter: the official announcement came on one of tv's biggest stages, the "oprah winfrey show." >> his first project will be a $100 million challenge grant. >> reporter: mark zuckerberg, ceo and founder of facebook, announced an unprecedented grant

to help newark's schools. the shy 26-year-old billionaire wanted to make an anonymous gift but was convinced to change his mind. >> every child deserves a good educationp right now that's not happening. >> reporter: governor chris christie and democratic mayor cory booker joined forces to make a bold agreement on how to use the funds. the governor will turn over some control of newark's state-run schools to the mayor, who scored a coup in getting zuckerberg's donation. >> it's about the children. >> reporter: some of the project details include setting up a $100 million education foundation. newark must raise $100 million in matching funds. the city must also raise another $50 million to serve disadvantaged kids. in newark, 150 teachers at the spark academy have high hopes for the project. >> i'm so excited for what that could mean for the children and the faepmilies. >> reporter: in the city where 45% of the students do not

graduate from high school, education experts say newark is now taking on another enormous challenge. >> if they fail, every foundation, every mayor and every governor will look at this as proof of why this may never work and it may never happen again. >> reporter: but the governor and the mayor and the philanthropists say they're determined to make newark a model for success. rehema ellis, newark, new jersey. starting tomorrow, nbc news presents education nation, a week-long look at what's wrong with our schools and what can be done to fix them. it all begins tomorrow at noon eastern. two-hour town hall with teachers hosted by brian williams. be sure and tune in for that. american hiker sara shourd is expressing thanks after finally being granted to a private meeting with president mahmoud ahmadinejad. shourd and her mother spoke with ahmadinejad friday hoping to convince the irinian leader to

release her fiance and her friend who are still detained. >> a good feeling for me to be able to tell him my story directly. we're hopeful for this and hope we'll make a difference for shane and josh. >> a congressional medal of honor jack jacobs is joining me now. we don't have a lot of details about this meeting. but she's very gracious, very thankful for the meeting. what do you think she actually will gain from this? >> very little. because at the end of the day, whether or not her friends stay in jail in iran has nothing to do with any decision that ahmadinejad himself may make. this is basically a fight between him on the one hand and even more conservative mullahs and judicial people inside iran. i don't think that they -- the people i'm talking about -- care for ahmadinejad any more than we do. and so at the end of the day, they will get released only if

the more conservative forces inside iran think that they can gain anything by releasing them. >> but until that point, jack, what is the point of keeping these two behind bars? >> well, this is what iran does, quite frankly. they put people in jail. they pump oil. they make a lot of noise about various things. and they try -- they're trying desperately to get nuclear weapons. and that's all they do. they don't do much else. they don't have many ways to influence the west. they don't have very many ways to influence the united nations and therefore sanctions on their economy. and so there's a lot of bluster involved. and in addition to that, there's this internal friction that's taking place between bad guys and even worse guys inside iran. >> what do you think this does to the potential of having diplomatic relations with this country which we don't have right now. >> it's not going to help,ic tell you that. things are not going to improve unless and until there is some external influence on the people who make decisions inside iran to loosen up. and that's not going to come

from us, quite frankly. and it's probably not going to come from anybody other than, let's say, russia, who has a great deal of influence inside iran because russia, because they've got very strong economic ties. >> how about the united nations? could that serve an influns? because to me, you see ahmadinejad taking the stage there and seeing how the government was behind the 911 attacks. we have diplomats all over the place saying we're not going to listen to this and they leave. >> nobody takes it seriously either. no, no, it's going to take an awful lot of pressure on iran. we are hoping that the moderates are going to revolt. the moderates do not revolt. that's who's in control of it now and if we're going to wait until the moderate people try to take control of iran and for these people to get freed from

jail will be waiting a long time. changing faces, changes places. president obama will soon have to find some new advisors, will that mean a change in direction for the president? ♪ ...and trust... an unspoken bond that, while common among men... is exceedingly rare among companies. the ram 60-day handshake. ram.

this week, rumors are flying about the major shake-up of advisors in washington. rahm emanuel could leave to run for mayor. and david axelrod may leave to focus on the 2012 presidential campaign. let's talk about these and other changes. what do they reflect? is this a shake-up that's needed or is this typical in the midterm organization? >> it's not unusual that a president would make some chains a few years into his administration. it's incredibly long hours of a job and people get burned out

easily, they want to return home and spend time with their families. that does happen. and this is all happening before the election partly because president obama wants to send a message. his party really needs to turn out in the fall and midterm elections, by sending some of these signals, that by for rahm emanuel, a lot of people don't like the way he operates in washington, and the left is frustrated with some of these actions, you throw in larry summers leaving, people are cheering those move. but it's also gearing up for that 2012 election campaign. but the facts that his advisors are getting into place is sort of a signal that they're getting ready for it. >> the staff shuffle affecting the white house, one of the president's advisers said that the president doesn't like new people. >> it's not exactly a classified

ad that he's put out there for a new chief of staff. he's likely to elevate pete rouse. he was one of daschle's right hand men, he was one of the -- president obama has worked with him for a long time. he was integral in helping him be a senator and running for president. there's been so much going on with it, but it appears that the democratic controlled senate has decided not to hold a vote despite many democrats making the case that they should. the house still trying to figure out a way to do this. procedurally there are several options they can do. but politically, it's a little dicey and pelosi is under a lot of pressure from people who

don't want to take a vote on taxes and then members on the left who do. >> thanks for that wrapup. stay with us, we'll have updates, breaking news for you, i'm alex witt, have yourself a great day, don't forget to wake yourself up with us tomorrow morning. zyrtec® is that it allows me to be outside. [ male announcer ] we bet you'll love zyrtec®, too -- or it's free. [ vonetta ] it is countdown to marshmallow time. [ woman laughs ]

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